Will move it up the TBR list.

1. i am not very familiar with wuxia at all, other than
the few translated films that came to america like
house of flying daggers and hero.

2. i didn’t realize my ending was fitting of that type
of genre. from the outset [SPOILER] i wanted to write
a story about unrequited love. because that’s what i
experienced the most (and really all i knew) as a teen. =)

3. the sequel is turning out quite diff than the debut.
makes me both nervous and excited!

straight from the author’s mouth.

again, thank you, jia! and all the commenters!

I too found the revelation about Ai Ling a sort of ‘oh really? that’s it?’ and the Big Bad seemed happy to send minions so when we finally have him on scene he didn’t seem so fearsome. Somebody else did, but not him.

I was sad about how the relationship ended up, but appreciated that she didn’t automatically go for the classic western ending. Plus I think too that it lends itself either nicely to a sequel or as an ending.

I’ve read the first three books in the Tales of the Otori series. I liked the concepts and ideas but the execution tends to fall apart, especially so as the series progress. I have the final two books in the series (or rather, the final book and the prequel) so maybe I’ll readjust my opinion whenever I finally get around to reading them. It does have its good points as a series but it has some definite weaknesses too.

@Angela James: No, I haven’t! Thanks for the rec. I’ll check it out.

I fall into that category of people who wish more fantasy novels set in non-Western settings were available to the general readership at large. And while I'm it, I want more than just those non-Western settings; I also want the stories of the non-white characters that live in those worlds.

Have you ever tried Kylie Chan’s trilogy? http://www.kyliechan.com/

She’s an Australian author, and they’re fantasy in an Asian setting with white and non-white characters. She’s got some meticulous mythology in use, and while the books are LONG and I thought could have benefited from some judicious cutting, they’re quite good and unusual, as fantasies go, because of the setting and the modern day, but not quite, setting. My only other complaint would be that the “trilogy” doesn’t actually complete the story and it’s been a long, long wait for the next book (almost two years now) but I think book four is done now and hopefully to be released later this year.

and the cover looks gorgeous.

That cover is just oozing lovely wonderfulness.

I fall into that category of people who wish more fantasy novels set in non-Western settings were available to the general readership at large. And while I'm it, I want more than just those non-Western settings; I also want the stories of the non-white characters that live in those worlds.

Yes! I’m always searching for fantasy novels that aren’t set in Western cultures too. It’s why I adored Avatar, the TV series anyway, I’ll probably be skipping the movie. Loved how the creators took a bunch of non-Western cultures/myths to create the Avatar world.

The most recent fantasy book with a non-Western background I tried was Across the Nightingale Floor, part of The Tales of Otori series by Hearn, but unfortunately the writing just didn’t capture my attention and I never finished the book. I loved the concept of the book, but the execution fell flat for me. OTOH, my sister loved the series.

Silver Phoenix looks interesting, and the cover looks gorgeous. I’ll look for it the next time I’m at the bookstore. Thanks for the review!

The author also draws beautifully: but I think she mostly blogs here.